Search - John Barry, Monty Norman :: The James Bond Collection

The James Bond Collection
John Barry, Monty Norman
The James Bond Collection
Genres: Pop, Soundtracks
 
  •  Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #2
  •  Track Listings (14) - Disc #3
  •  Track Listings (14) - Disc #4

The exploits of Ian Fleming's British super-agent James Bond have long since become the longest running film series in history, spanning 40 years and counting. Not the least of the cycle's charm has been its music, a body ...  more »

     

CD Details

All Artists: John Barry, Monty Norman
Title: The James Bond Collection
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Silva America
Original Release Date: 12/18/1969
Re-Release Date: 10/22/2002
Album Type: Box set, Limited Edition, Soundtrack
Genres: Pop, Soundtracks
Style:
Number of Discs: 4
SwapaCD Credits: 4
UPCs: 738572080822, 803680861004

Synopsis

Amazon.com
The exploits of Ian Fleming's British super-agent James Bond have long since become the longest running film series in history, spanning 40 years and counting. Not the least of the cycle's charm has been its music, a body of work that encompasses pop clichés (the twangy guitar of Monty Norman's original "James Bond Theme") and elegant underscores alike. While this collection spans music from Dr. No to The World Is Not Enough, decades of various legal entanglements prevented it from becoming the ultimate Bond music anthology. This is more a credible simulation, a newly recorded collection of cues and suites (including music previously unreleased on the original soundtracks) performed by Nic Raine and the City of Prague Symphony Orchestra. With John Barry's lush, ever-evocative scores both forming the core and setting the tone (but also featuring the work of George Martin, David Arnold, Michael Kamen, Bill Conti, and Eric Serra), it's the most comprehensive--if not exactly authentic--collection of Bond music yet attempted. --Jerry McCulley
 

CD Reviews

"over three hours of music on 54 tracks ~ a Bond bullseye"
J. Lovins | Missouri-USA | 10/23/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Silva Screen compilation is the complete collection to the label's previous collections of the most famous Secret Agent themes to grace the big screen. "The Name Is Bond, James Bond"! Our larger-than-life hero has appeared in many forms over the years - Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton
and Pierce Brosnan - all capable actors with an aire of the ultimate confidence in saving the world. To assist our hero in this assignment are various composers, including David Arnold, John Barry, Bill Conti, Marvin Hamlisch, Michael Kamen, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, George Martin, Monty Norman and Eric Serra, all of whom have attained immortality and classic status in film scoring. Monty Norman composed the famous "James Bond Theme," but it was John Barry who gave it the final polish with his new arrangement for guitar...now recognized world wide as the most popular movie theme ever. Barry created a new twist for the James Bond theme itself, as heard in "This Never Happened to the Other Fella", an
arrangement to end all arrangements from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" ~ the cornerstone of this film score is the love theme "We Have All the Time in the World", is tragically and ironically meant for the ultimate Bond girl, whom Bond will spend the rest of his life, until she meets her ultimate fate.Nic Raine, who has worked with Elmer Bernstein, Maurice Jarre, George Fenton, Gerald Gouriet and Stanley Myers, was passionate when he orchestrated "A View to a Kill" and "The Living Daylights" for John Barry. Raine conducted the City of Prague Philharmonic for these Bond compilations. This latest album "The James Bond Collection" is a faithful and outstanding interpretation of Bond music, taking the form of suites which incorporate the best action cues from the franchise, including some material not previously available. Raine adapted and changed the material where necessary for the demands of a 75-piece orchestra. Fellow music-lovers, this is a "film-score-buffs" dream come true...so run out and satisfy your cravings for action, adventure and romance with yours and my favorite secret agent ~ JAMES BOND, gotta love it!Total 4-CD-SET ~ Silva America TVPMCD-808 ~ (2002)"
Very enjoyable with most of the BOND music you'd want.
----john J. Butera | WOODLAND PARK, CO USA | 12/08/2002
(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is similar but more comprehensive than another BOND collection on one CD by the City of Prague Philharmonic. These are good renditions but clearly not the orginals. I must ask if the Prague Philharmonic does not own a harp? It is glaringly missing in the Goldfinger themes and i am sure on others. That harp is an exciting and beautiful touch to the wonderful GOLDFINGER theme and its absents is unfortuneatly very noticeable. Also some of the other themes can even sound muzaky if thats a word(elevator music)
It gets 3 solid stars good collection yet defineatly something is lacking."
Not excatly what I expected
Charles H. Berlemann Jr. | Oak Habor, WA | 04/10/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)

"I when I read some of the reviews of this I thought that this was a complete collection of all the originals of the Theme songs of every James Bond movie and remakes done by the Prague Philharmonic of some of the other songs in the various movies. After recieveing this ... I started to listen to it and found out that it was all done by the orchestra. The are very good, but to a point it is not the same thing as owning a disc will all the orignal songs on it. Overall, this good if all the you want is the orchestral versions of most of the songs in the movies or the suites out of some of the movies. To a point these don't compare to the orignals. Keep looking if you want a set with all the orignals songs in it."